Isaiah 47:1: “Come down and sit in the dust, / O virgin daughter of Babylon; / Sit on the ground without a throne, / O daughter of the Chaldeans! / For you shall no more be called / Tender and delicate.”

September 10th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The nation of Babylon was referred to here as a virgin because it had never been captured or overrun by any other nation. But Isaiah prophesied that the day was coming when Babylon would be overthrown, and he used the image of a conquered royal princess sitting in the dirt to illustrate it. The daughter of a defeated king would become a slave woman under the new king, forced to wear work clothes instead of soft royal garments, hardened by the difficulties of manual labor after formerly living a life of ease. 150 years after Isaiah’s prophesy, Babylon experienced complete humiliation at the hands of Cyrus, king of Persia, just as God had declared, and never again recovered.

God used ungodly Babylon to discipline His people, and then used Persia to destroy Babylon and free His people from captivity. Babylon’s pride and unrepentant attitude forced God to discipline them too. In their pride, Babylon believed itself to be undefeatable and never even considered the possibility that it could be pulled down from its position of power.

Aesop’s fable, “Defeated by Pride,” tells of 2 roosters who fought for supremacy in the farmyard. The defeated rooster hid himself in a corner of the hen house, while the victor flew to the roof of the barn and began to crow, “I’ve won! I’ve won!” His crowing caught the attention of an eagle, which swooped down and carried him away. The defeated rooster suddenly found himself the unchallenged master of the farmyard. Moral: The enemy is often defeated by his own pride.

“LORD, we recognize that our own sin will blind us to the reality of our need for You. Give us eyes to see what You see this day so we might walk humbly with You.”